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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

If New Year Wishes Were Horses...

Yesterday, Kenyan police made a remarkable find. With the help of the public and after combing an overgrown
compound in the Rift Valley town of Burnt Forest for three hours, they
discovered an aluminium container buried under the ground. Inside were six AK47
assault rifles and about 700 rounds of ammunition.

While the circumstances surrounding the discovery were
themselves little short of astounding, a little noted feature of the story was
the use of so-called “gun detectors” alongside police dogs. Media footage appears to
show police meticulously using the devices to scan the search area for weapons.
On closer examination, however, the devices resemble the fake bomb detectors sold to authorities around the world by convicted fraudster
James McCormick.

The use of equipment that has been shown to be useless is symptomatic
of a much deeper malaise that has infected the government’s approach to
insecurity, and indeed to many of the problems bedevilling Kenya. Over the past
year, it has kept repeating the same actions over and over, and hoping for
different results.

Thus the so-called war on terror revolves around the
familiar tropes of criminalising entire communities and violation of civil liberties
that have previously failed to stop attacks. Instead of rethinking its strategy
and adopting new, effective and comprehensive tactics to tackle the security
meltdown that terrorists have been taking advantage of, the government continues
to bang our collective heads against a brick wall. It has even sought to give
its failing methods the force of law through the recently passed Security Laws Amendment Act.

And when confronted with criticism, its preferred response
is to shoot the messenger, not pay heed to the message. So when Aljazeera aired
its expose about extra-judicial executions of terror suspects, the government’s reaction was
to ignore the substance of the allegations and to threaten the media house and its journalists. The new laws target the dissemination
of news about terror incidents, essentially requiring police approval of any reports.
It is hard to imagine that exposes of state incompetence, such as the KTN investigation into the response to the Westgate attack which provided the now familiar footage
of soldiers looting the mall while pretending to fight terrorists, will henceforth
be allowed on air. It is worth noting that at the time, the Inspector General
of Police was not keen on reporting that embarrassed the government and actually
ordered the arrest of the journalists involved.

In other areas too, the government has continued to plough
ahead with measures that bring little relief to the common citizen while
providing huge opportunities for rents for the elite. Following his predecessor’s
lead, massive infrastructure projects, featuring either single sourcing or
dubiously awarded contracts, have become the order of the day. Corruption and
impunity reign supreme as elites graduate from chai to chicken. Meantime,
Kenyans are saddled with poverty, disease and ever higher levels of debt and
living costs.

As in Burnt Forest, where no journalists seemed to question
the use of the “gun detecting equipment,” the government’s incompetence has
been abetted by that of the country’s media houses. What Israeli politician,
diplomat and author, Abba Eban, said of the Arabs is true of our press: they “never miss an opportunity to miss an
opportunity.” Over the past year, the government has rarely been called to
account by the press or even had its narrative questioned. It is almost never
asked to substantiate its claims of having prevented many terror attacks, of falling
crime rates or significantly reduced energy costs. From superficial reporting on
the challenges facing the country to the limited coverage of the opposition’s
Saba Saba rally, to the parroting of government narratives on various issues,
the media has distinguished itself by its insipidness. Coverage, though somewhat improved compared to
2013, continued to be episodic and devoid of context.

Therefore, as we
ring in the New Year, I continue to hope that as a society, we will begin to
demand better. That we will tire of the mediocrity and mendacity that has
become a mainstay of the government’s policy pronouncements and insist on well
thought out and well-articulated strategies that actually address our real
problems. For example, that we finally decide to address the many weaknesses with
the electoral system that were revealed by the last election cycle, keeping in mind that bungled elections
have proven to be the greatest threat to our national security. Or that we will
question the reality of government pronouncements of a “transformed” education
system and insist on more than just superficial actions like the provision of laptops or abolishing
of the school ranking system.

In all, I hope
that we will go beyond a reflexive shouts about institutionalism and towards a
candid examination of the nature of our institutions, the system they engender
and the fruits they produce. That we will continue the effort to re-imagine and
re-create Kenya as a country that works, not just for a few, but for all her
citizens. And finally, that the media will find the courage to lead the nation in
this endeavor. I will try to play my part and pray others will as well.